Grieving and Recovery

In this holiday season, we are obsessed with what to give people we love. Few of us think about what we can give ourselves. So here is a suggestion. One that will not cost you anything, other than the anger...

As the Soberanes fire in Carmel, California comes closer to our vacation home, I’m devastated knowing the source of wonderful memories will most likely become a charred monument to quiet weekends, solitude,...

There are more things that can cause depression as we age. I can’t run as fast or as far as I did ten years ago, my weight only fluctuates upward, I take more time to process information, and I feel under...

In Part I of Family Conflict, I presented the idea conflicts often involve looking at the present through our history. In Part II I wrote that “universal” or “enduring” truths are myths-especially when...

In Part I of Family Conflict I presented the idea conflicts often involve looking at the present through our history. There is an amazing similarity in the type of conflicts created by a health crisis and...

Passover was a dreaded holiday for me as a teenager growing up in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was a time when my uncle, who thought of himself as a "lay Rabbi," rose at the head of the table and straightened...

In Part 1 of Grief Hierarchy, I presented the idea grief shouldn't be evaluated in terms of whose is greater. In Part 2, I introduced the notion (controversial based on the feedback I received) we don't grieve...

THOUGHT OF THE DAY. In the first installment of this series, I presented the idea grief shouldn't be placed on a hierarchy of importance. I maintained the grief of someone who lost a dog can be as substantial...

THOUGHT OF THE DAY. Each day’s new violence makes people want to retreat into a 1950’s bomb shelter, or buy a home in a gated and guarded community, or hide in a shack in a remote part of the woods. Of...

THOUGHT OF THE DAY. I wrote an article on January 6, 2015 how thoughts are theoretical unless there is a conviction to act (Selma: Why I Write About the Sharp Points of Life). As an example, I cited the civil...

THOUGHT OF THE DAY. "Whatever Gets You Through the Night," is the title of John Lennon's 1970's hit single. The phrase, credited to Reverend Ike, a famous black radio evangelist in the 1970's, should be the...

I received a wonderful LinkedIn invitation to connect this morning from the CEO of After A Loss. It is a Canadian service organization I wish exists here in the States--especially for those who are grieving...

THOUGHT OF THE DAY. When a friend discussed with me the uncertainty of living without her recently deceased husband, I thought about my life living with prostate cancer. Until his death my friend’s life was...

10/28/14 The last time I ran was more than 15 years ago in the Treasure Island Triathlon. What followed was a less than successful hip replacement and years of lamenting losing an important part of my...

06/13/14 I think everyone has a limited ability to function well. As we age, that threshold becomes lower. Imagine this ability is a 10” pie. The more pieces taken out, the less there is for you. What...

06/11/14 I’ve just spent a week in North Carolina and was floored by the openness of the people I met. A simple question I asked a baker became a warm animated conversation about making sourdough bread and...

06/08/14 I had the wonderful experience yesterday of performing the marriage service for the daughter of my friend of 45 years. My contribution to the structure of the service (they selected the writings and...